Decentralised exchanges, honestly compared
All decentralised venues — newest first
Self-custody checklist before your first DEX trade — what each wallet prompt really authorises, and the $20 test that proves the route
Before your first DEX trade: what each wallet prompt authorises, why 4 of the 5 that can cost you money need no gas, and a $20 test that proves the route.
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HYPE explained — the four jobs one token does, and what each of them costs you
HYPE is gas on the HyperEVM, a stake buying a 5-40% fee discount, and what the assistance fund burns. What each job really costs, with the arithmetic.
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The Hyperliquid HLP vault — what it does, where its money comes from, and what you are actually buying
HLP is Hyperliquid's protocol vault: it market-makes, backstops liquidations and takes no profit share. What depositing means, and the four-day lock.
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Funding and liquidation on Hyperliquid — when they are charged, what they cost, and how to read the numbers
Hyperliquid pays funding every hour, capped at 4%, and liquidates at 1.25% maintenance margin on BTC. What each costs a $10,000 position, in dollars.
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Hyperliquid fees explained — maker, taker, the HYPE discount, and what a $10,000 round trip really costs
Hyperliquid base fees: 0.045% taker, 0.015% maker, so a $10,000 round trip is $9 or $3. What staking HYPE and a referral code save, and what it leaves out.
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pump.fun — what "anyone can create a coin" really costs you
pump.fun explained plainly: what a memecoin launchpad is, why nobody screening the coins changes everything, and the rules if you go in anyway.
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Hyperliquid — on-chain perpetuals, and the margin rule beginners miss
Hyperliquid explained: what an on-chain perpetuals L1 really is, how cross and isolated margin differ, and when leverage is actually checked.
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FOMO — social trading, and what a leaderboard does not show you
FOMO app review: social-first crypto trading, why a leaderboard hides more than it shows, who the app suits, and who should stay well away from it.
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Aster DEX — privacy-first perpetuals, and the leverage question
Aster DEX explained: self-custody perpetuals, Hidden Orders, and what leverage advertised up to 1001x actually costs you on a real position.
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A decentralised exchange is not a cheaper Binance. You keep your own coins, nobody checks your identity, and there is no support desk when something goes wrong. Worth it for some jobs, reckless for others — so this directory sorts venues by the job, and grades each one by how much can go wrong.
| Venue | The job it does | How much can go wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Hyperliquid | Perpetuals and spot, on its own chain. Every fill verifiable. | Serious tool Leveraged, self-custody — and leverage is checked only when you open. |
| Aster | Perpetuals with hidden resting orders, self-custody. | Handle with care Advertises up to 1001x, where a 0.1% move ends the position. |
| pump.fun | Create and trade brand-new memecoins on Solana. | Assume total loss Nobody screens the coins; the creator can sell at any moment. |
| FOMO | Fast multichain memecoin trading with a social feed. | Assume total loss Leaderboards and buy alerts push exactly the behaviour that empties accounts. |
The grade is about how much can go wrong before you notice, not about whether a venue is trustworthy. A well-run memecoin market is still a memecoin market.
PICK BY THE JOB, NOT BY THE LOGO
Each venue below does one job well and other jobs badly. The linked page for each is where the drawbacks are — that is the part worth your time before you open anything.
Hyperliquid — on-chain perpetuals, the most serious infrastructure here. Not the place for your first leveraged position. Already trade perps? How to start trading on Hyperliquid — wallet, deposit, and the form defaults to change. Counting the cost? Hyperliquid fees explained — maker, taker, the HYPE discount, and the $125 the fee page never mentions.
Aster — perpetuals across four chains, leverage offered up to 1001×. Only if you already trade perps and size them properly.
FOMO — social trading. A leaderboard shows you the winners and never the accounts that quietly stopped posting.
pump.fun — memecoin launchpad. Nobody screens the coins and most go to zero. Only money you are prepared to lose in full.
Referral links — we may be paid if you open an account through one. It does not change what is written above. Education only; most retail traders lose money, and on leveraged or memecoin venues they lose it faster.
What a DEX actually changes
One thing, and everything follows from it: the coins stay in a wallet you control instead of on a company's books. That single change is why fees can be lower, why there is usually no identity check, and why almost nothing can be undone.
The line that catches people is the second row. On a centralised exchange, losing your password is an afternoon of annoyance. In self-custody, losing your seed phrase is the end of the money — there is no account to recover, because there was never an account, only a key. Read how to judge a venue before deciding which risk you prefer.
Perpetuals and derivatives
Leveraged contracts without an intermediary holding your collateral. The most mature category on-chain — and the most expensive one to get wrong.
Hyperliquid — on-chain perpetuals
A layer-one built for trading: every fill verifiable on-chain, non-custodial, and a margin rule that checks your leverage only when the position opens.
Aster — privacy-first perpetuals
Self-custody perpetuals with hidden resting orders. Also advertises leverage up to 1001x, where a 0.1% move ends the position.
Memecoins and launchpads
Markets where anyone can create a token and anyone can trade it minutes later. Not investing, and not really trading either — the main variable is attention.
pump.fun — memecoin launchpad
Anyone can create a token on Solana and trade it minutes later. Nobody screens the coins, and the creator can sell at any moment.
FOMO — social-first trading app
Fast multichain access with a leaderboard and buy alerts attached. Convenient, and built on the three mechanisms that empty beginner accounts.
Swaps and spot
Token swaps on-chain — the everyday plumbing of decentralised finance.
We do not list a venue here yet. Not an oversight: we would rather leave a gap than fill it with a name we have not examined. When we cover one it will get its own page, in the same shape as the others — what it is good at, and where it can cost you.
Who should not use a DEX yet
Anyone who cannot yet say what a DEX is without using the word “decentralised”. Start with what a DEX is — who holds the keys on each kind of venue, who can freeze or return your money, and why a swap DEX and a perp DEX are different products.
Anyone in their first months of trading. The independence is real but it is not what is holding you back. Order execution, position sizing and the discipline to follow a plan are — and those are cheaper to learn where a support desk exists. Start with the centralised exchanges.
Anyone who cannot explain a seed phrase. Not as a test of intelligence, but as a test of whether the failure mode is understood. In self-custody, that failure is total and permanent. If you can, our self-custody checklist is the page to read before the first trade.
Anyone using money they need. True everywhere on this site, and doubly here, where there is nobody to appeal to.
Anyone who found a venue through a leaderboard or a post about someone getting rich. That is the arrival route with the worst outcomes on record — and it is the route these products are designed to create.
FAQ
Is a DEX safer than a centralised exchange?
Safer from one risk, more exposed to another. You are not trusting a company with your coins, which removes the risk of that company failing or freezing withdrawals. You are now fully responsible for your keys and every transaction you sign, with no recovery path. They fail in different ways.
Do decentralised exchanges require ID?
Usually not, which people read as the main attraction. Understand the trade: no identity check also means no institution that owes you anything and no process to appeal to. Rules differ by country — check what applies where you live.
Can I start with memecoins instead of learning the basics?
You can, and it is the most common way beginner accounts disappear. These markets punish exactly the habits a beginner has not built yet: position sizing, defined exits, and not buying because of a notification.
Why do you list venues you warn about?
Because people search for them and will use them whether or not we mention them. A page that only lists safe options is never read by the person taking the risk. We would rather they arrive here, see the drawback in the same sentence as the link, and size the position accordingly.
Comparing the two biggest order-book perp DEXs? Hyperliquid vs dYdX works out where the cheaper venue changes hands — the fee schedules cross at exactly 50% maker fills — and why on dYdX the market’s open interest can raise the margin you have to post.